A look at what's going on in Trinidad, on H Street, and in the larger area north of Capitol Hill.

Thursday, December 14, 2017

Shawafel to Close H Street NE Location this Month

Shawafel owner Alberto Sissi confirmed to me that he will close his original location at 1322 H Street NE on Dec. 23. He plans to reopen the shop at a new downtown location (818 18th Street NW) in the spring. Alberto is also currently exploring the possibility of opening a location near Eastern Market.

He told me he is "very sad to leave H [Street]," but indicated he has "been priced out of the market." Alberto said his landlord intends to essentially double the rent for the H Street NE location if the shop remains there beyond the end of the year. He added that he "really appreciate[s]...everyone that supported Shawafel and it's been a great pleasure serving this wonderful community."

Shawafel originally opened on H Street NE in August of 2011, and has been serving up delicious Lebanese fare in the neighborhood ever since. I'll be very sorry to see them go, but you still have a little time to stop by for a final shish taouk or shawarma before they close.

11 comments:

Anonymous
said...

not surprising. Quality declined after 2013, the ballpark Shawafel was awful(and left a bad taste for many people) and H now has much better choices for food. Also, Micho's has happy hour every hour and similar food. After a while, there was no longer anything compelling about this place. I'll still be sad to see it go.

All five of my family love Shawafel. I was crushed when Alberto told us the news. Luckily, I won't be too far from his downtown spot and Eastern Mkt isn't too far. That said, it's the closest cheap, delicious food, so it (and Alberto's welcoming smile) will be very missed by us.

Ron White,I'm not sure if I missing a joke with the name or anything, so I'll assume this is a straight forward question. It looks like 1322 H Street NE is owned by SMG Development Group LLC. The LLC appears to have purchased the building in 2005. As far as I can tell the LLC doesn't appear to be affiliated with Alberto aside from being the landlord.They do appear to have an address on H Street NE.